Konjunktiv I in reported speech

You already know one way to report speech: Er sagt, dass er krank ist. That is correct, ordinary, spoken German and nothing here replaces it. But open a German newspaper and you will find a second form, and once you can read it you can also use it.

Konjunktiv I reports a claim without confirming it. The reporter says what was said, and steps back from whether it is true.

• „Ich bin krank.“

  "I am ill."

  direct speech — his own words

• Er sagt, er sei krank.

  He says he is ill.

  Konjunktiv I — reported, not endorsed

• Er sagt, dass er krank ist.

  He says that he is ill.

  the everyday B1 version — equally correct

The forms worth learning first are the ones that do most of the work. sein is irregular and by far the most common.

The pattern for ordinary verbs is simple: take the stem and add -e for er/sie/es. That is why er komme, er gehe, er sage, er arbeite all look the way they do — and why they are easy to spot, because the indicative would be kommt, geht, sagt, arbeitet.

Where the Konjunktiv I form is identical to the ordinary present, German uses Konjunktiv II instead: sie haben → sie hätten, not sie haben.

• Die Nachbarn sagen, sie hätten nichts gehört.

  The neighbours say they heard nothing.

  sie haben would be indistinguishable from the indicative

• Die Sprecherin erklärte, die Lage sei schwierig.

  The spokeswoman explained that the situation was difficult.

• Der Bericht sagt, die Preise seien gestiegen.

  The report says prices have risen.

  the Perfekt reported: seien + Partizip II

One more thing the form does, which no textbook table shows: it carries distance. Er behauptet, er habe nichts gewusst tells you the writer is not vouching for it. Choosing `dass` + indicative in a news report would quietly turn a claim into a fact.